DIY
GAMING

Use a couple of white LEDs to illuminate the original Game Boy Advance’s display.

LET THERE BE
(FRONT) LIGHT
Add an LED front light to your Game Boy
Advance for $5. By Dave Prochnow

Photography by Dave Prochnow

One of the biggest sore points with the original Nintendo rectified this failing later with the
Game Boy Advance (GBA) was its lack of a backlit release of the Game Boy Advance SP, which
screen. You and your GBA could while away many features a lighted LCD.
waking hours, but with the arrival of dusk, the fun Barring the purchase of a new GBA SP, what
faded as quickly as Donkey Kong high scores. can a lowly GBA owner do? The Afterburner kit
from Triton Labs made GBA screens glow with
an ingenious, clear, front-lit LED panel, but that
kit has been discontinued. Here’s a simpler and
rougher solution, inspired by Benjamin Heckend-
orn’s book Hacking Video Game Consoles — just
hack a couple of white light-emitting diodes
(LEDs) that draw from the GBA’s own power and
illuminate the screen from inside its case.
Finding the parts and tucking them inside the

MATERIALS

Game Boy Advance

White T- 1 LEDs ( 2) I got mine from goldmine-elec.com, part #G155b2.

10-ohm, ¼-watt resistors ( 2)